Title: Iron Mountain, California: An Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Environment
Charles N Alpers
Since 1991, as a Research Chemist with USGS, Dr. Alpers has led numerous water-quality investigations involving the environmental effects of historical mining.
This work has included research on acid mine drainage at the Iron Mountain Superfund site, including documentation of negative-pH water and associated sulfate minerals. Since 1999, he has been lead scientist for several multi-disciplinary studies regarding mercury contamination, transport, and bioaccumulation associated with historical gold mining in the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges of California. He is also investigating arsenic bioavailability and bioaccessibility in gold-mine waste at the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, California as part of a multi-disciplinary team involving USGS and non-USGS scientists.
The overarching theme of Dr. Alpers' research is the environmental geochemistry of metal contamination from historical mining. A secondary theme is the use of mineral deposits and areas contaminated by mining as laboratories for process-oriented research. His career has evolved from an emphasis on acid mine drainage (late 1980s to 2000) to an emphasis on mercury (since 2000) with growing interests in wetlands, arsenic, and lead.
Science and Products
Hydrologic and Aquatic Ecology Studies at Clear Lake, California
Monitoring and Modeling of Nutrients and Other Water-Quality Constituents in Tributaries to Clear Lake, California
Scotts Creek Nutrient Erosion Study, Lake County, California
Effects of Wildfire and Fire Retardants on Nutrient Transport in California Watersheds
Mercury studies at Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine and Clear Lake, California
Examining Erosion at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, a Sierra Nevada Gold Mine
Developing Spatial Data on Mineral Deposits Found on Abandoned Mine Lands
Add-on to: Determination of Mercury Loads for Cache Creek Settling Basin Inflow and Outflows and Related Investigations
Quantification of Mercury Flux in Eroding Mining Debris, Yuba River Watershed, California
Technical Support to the U.S. EPA for Leviathan Mine, Alpine County, California
Additional characterization of the impact of suction dredging, South Yuba River – Humbug Creek
Determination of Mercury Loads for Cache Creek Settling Basin Inflow and Outflows and Related Investigations
Mercury in biota from Clear Lake, California (ver. 3.0, August 2024)
Stable isotope data for sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen in minerals and gases and electron microprobe data for minerals from Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California
Geochemical data for water, sediment, and biota in areas affected by historical mining, northwestern Sierra Nevada and Trinity Mountains, California
Geochemical data for post-fire surface water, streambed sediment, and soils from areas affected by the 2018 Camp Fire, Butte County, California
During November 2018, the Camp Fire burned more than 150,000 acres in Butte County, California. The fire was the deadliest and most destructive in California history, destroying more than 18,000 structures and causing at least 85 fatalities. The U.S. Geological Survey sampled surface water in areas affected by the Camp Fire, plus an unburned control site, during two post-fire sampling events, Janu
Aqueous and solid phase geochemistry of water and mineral precipitates from draining adits in California and Colorado
This dataset is a compilation of samples collected from draining mine adits, including water and mineral precipitates, from several mines in California and Colorado. The Golinsky, Copper Bluff, and Afterthought Mines (located in northern California) and the Gold King mine (located in southern Colorado) have historically operated to recover metals including copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and othe
Geochemical and mineralogical data for mine waste from Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine, Lake County, California
Mercury stable isotopes in biota, sediment, groundwater, and waste piles, Clear Lake area, Lake County, California, 2019-2022
Geochemical data for water, sediment, and biota in Lake Combie, California, 2017-2021
Environmental chemistry from selected sites in Lakeport, Lake County, California (version 1.1, August 2023)
High resolution and discrete temporal and spatial water-quality measurements in support of modeling mercury and methylmercury concentrations in surface waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Mercury in fishes from Clear Lake, California, 2019 and 2020 (ver. 2.0, February 2022)
Geochemical data including mercury for subsamples of deep cores from the Cache Creek Settling Basin, Yolo County, California
![PubTalk 7/2018— Extreme acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain California](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/video/pubtalk-7-2018.png?itok=sksRnq-n)
Title: Iron Mountain, California: An Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Environment
Gold pan with more than 30 grams of mercury from 1 kilogram of mercury-contaminated sediments collected in a drainage tunnel.
Gold pan with more than 30 grams of mercury from 1 kilogram of mercury-contaminated sediments collected in a drainage tunnel.
A call for strategic water-quality monitoring to advance assessment and prediction of wildfire impacts on water supplies
Discovery and potential ramifications of reduced iron-bearing nanoparticles — Magnetite, wüstite, and zero-valent iron — In wildland–urban interface fire ashes
Effects of montane watershed development on vulnerability of domestic groundwater supply during drought
Formation and prevention of pipe scale from acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain and Leviathan Mines, California, USA
Quantifying erosion rates by using terrestrial laser scanning at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, Nevada County, California, 2014–17
Quantifying the eroded and deposited mass of mercury-contaminated sediment by using terrestrial laser scanning at the confluence of Humbug Creek and the South Yuba River, Nevada County, California, 2011–13
PFHydro: A new watershed-scale model for post-fire runoff simulation
Geochemical data for water, streambed sediment, and fish tissue from the Sierra Nevada Mercury Impairment Project, 2011–12
Geochemistry of mercury and other constituents in subsurface sediment—Analyses from 2011 and 2012 coring campaigns, Cache Creek Settling Basin, Yolo County, California
Challenges in recovering resources from acid mine drainage
Arsenic and mercury contamination related to historical goldmining in the Sierra Nevada, California
Science and Products
Hydrologic and Aquatic Ecology Studies at Clear Lake, California
Monitoring and Modeling of Nutrients and Other Water-Quality Constituents in Tributaries to Clear Lake, California
Scotts Creek Nutrient Erosion Study, Lake County, California
Effects of Wildfire and Fire Retardants on Nutrient Transport in California Watersheds
Mercury studies at Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine and Clear Lake, California
Examining Erosion at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, a Sierra Nevada Gold Mine
Developing Spatial Data on Mineral Deposits Found on Abandoned Mine Lands
Add-on to: Determination of Mercury Loads for Cache Creek Settling Basin Inflow and Outflows and Related Investigations
Quantification of Mercury Flux in Eroding Mining Debris, Yuba River Watershed, California
Technical Support to the U.S. EPA for Leviathan Mine, Alpine County, California
Additional characterization of the impact of suction dredging, South Yuba River – Humbug Creek
Determination of Mercury Loads for Cache Creek Settling Basin Inflow and Outflows and Related Investigations
Mercury in biota from Clear Lake, California (ver. 3.0, August 2024)
Stable isotope data for sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen in minerals and gases and electron microprobe data for minerals from Sulphur Bank mercury mine, Lake County, California
Geochemical data for water, sediment, and biota in areas affected by historical mining, northwestern Sierra Nevada and Trinity Mountains, California
Geochemical data for post-fire surface water, streambed sediment, and soils from areas affected by the 2018 Camp Fire, Butte County, California
During November 2018, the Camp Fire burned more than 150,000 acres in Butte County, California. The fire was the deadliest and most destructive in California history, destroying more than 18,000 structures and causing at least 85 fatalities. The U.S. Geological Survey sampled surface water in areas affected by the Camp Fire, plus an unburned control site, during two post-fire sampling events, Janu
Aqueous and solid phase geochemistry of water and mineral precipitates from draining adits in California and Colorado
This dataset is a compilation of samples collected from draining mine adits, including water and mineral precipitates, from several mines in California and Colorado. The Golinsky, Copper Bluff, and Afterthought Mines (located in northern California) and the Gold King mine (located in southern Colorado) have historically operated to recover metals including copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and othe
Geochemical and mineralogical data for mine waste from Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine, Lake County, California
Mercury stable isotopes in biota, sediment, groundwater, and waste piles, Clear Lake area, Lake County, California, 2019-2022
Geochemical data for water, sediment, and biota in Lake Combie, California, 2017-2021
Environmental chemistry from selected sites in Lakeport, Lake County, California (version 1.1, August 2023)
High resolution and discrete temporal and spatial water-quality measurements in support of modeling mercury and methylmercury concentrations in surface waters of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Mercury in fishes from Clear Lake, California, 2019 and 2020 (ver. 2.0, February 2022)
Geochemical data including mercury for subsamples of deep cores from the Cache Creek Settling Basin, Yolo County, California
![PubTalk 7/2018— Extreme acid mine drainage at Iron Mountain California](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/thumbnails/video/pubtalk-7-2018.png?itok=sksRnq-n)
Title: Iron Mountain, California: An Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Environment
Title: Iron Mountain, California: An Extreme Acid Mine Drainage Environment
Gold pan with more than 30 grams of mercury from 1 kilogram of mercury-contaminated sediments collected in a drainage tunnel.
Gold pan with more than 30 grams of mercury from 1 kilogram of mercury-contaminated sediments collected in a drainage tunnel.